Yes, a couple of years ago they submitted a claim and it was denied. That's when I started wearing the "fake" ones. They are submitting another one. I will make sure that they put a diagnosis on it. Thx.
I would try through the insurance. And trust me, the cost of custom one is still better than the cost of the two crowns I got from cracking teeth through grinding and clenching at night. Sigh. Only wish I'd spent the money sooner.
I lost my nightguards in Australia a few years ago. My dentist also wanted $400+ for replacements. I found Sporting Smiles http://www.sportingsmiles.com/single-hard-night-teeth-grinding-guard.html and they were great. $150 for both upper and lower. The quality was as good as my original nightguard supplied by my dentist. Their customer service was great and I was happy with the product.
My dentist told me it would be about $500 even with insurance. I told him there was no way I could afford that but asked him to put in a prior authorization to see exactly how much it was going to cost so I could save up. Turned out to be $75 so I was able to get it right away.
Similar thing happened with my friend's crown....dentist quoted $2000 so he had him do a prior authorization first and they covered the crown 100%.
With anything big I now always have the dentist prior authorize it first.